Rodney Trotter joins the Met Police - no, it's not a Christmas spoof of Only Fools And Horses.

Nicholas Lyndhurst, best known for his role as Del Boy's bumbling brother, has been chosen to join the cast of the BBC1 detective drama New Tricks.

The 51-year-old will star as a new recruit to the
team of retired cops headed by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman
(Redman) in the 10th series of the show, which begins next year.

The actor, whose popular shows have also
included Goodnight Sweetheart, Rock & Chips and Butterflies, said he was “very
flattered” to get the role.

The 10-episode series will open with a
two-part story, shortly to be filmed in Gibraltar.

Lyndhurst steps in as several original
members of the cast leave, including Alun Armstrong, who plays Brian Lane, and Amanda
Redman, who plays Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, and who leaves in
the eighth programme of the series.

Earlier this year members of the cast
including Armstrong were involved in a public spat with scriptwriter Julian
Simpson, branding his stories "bland” in a Radio Times interview.

In response, Simpson wrote on Twitter:
"I was going to be writing today, instead I'm just going to hand the actors
a pad and pen. I wish I'd learned this 15 years ago."

Also returning to the cast for the new
series is Denis Lawson, who joined earlier this year.